Can I apply for family immigration if I am already in Norway?
For family immigration, the general rule is that you need to submit your application either from your country of origin or from a country where you have held a residence permit for the last 6 months or longer. There are only a few situations where applying for family immigration while in Norway is acceptable.
You can submit an application in Norway if you
- have a valid residence permit in Norway or
- qualify as a skilled worker and have legal residency in Norway (for example, you already have a valid visa for Norway or another Schengen country).
If you do not need a visa to come to Norway, in some cases you might be allowed to submit your application for family immigration in Norway although you are not a skilled worker. You can submit your application in Norway if you come from a country where no visa is required to enter Norway, you are staying legally in Norway and
- you apply for family immigration to join your spouse or cohabitant (if you apply with your fiance(e) as your reference person, you must also have skilled-worker status to apply in Norway) or
- you are under 18 years of age and apply for family immigration to join your parent or parents in Norway. If one of your parents is part of a parental responsibility agreement concerning you but is not in Norway, you will also have to obtain that parent’s consent or
- you are the parent of a child who is a Norwegian citizen, and the child lives with you on a permanent basis